Saudi Arabia
suspends any dialogue with Qatar, accusing it of “distorting facts” in its reporting of yesterday's phone call between the leaders of both countries which suggested a breakthrough in the Gulf dispute was possible.
(Reuters)(RT via Newsline)

Seven first responders file a $1 million lawsuit against the
Arkema
chemical company for failing to warn them in advance about the environmental dangers
from the plant explosion. The seven people, six police officers and an emergency worker, remain under a doctor's care. (UPI)(Bloomberg)

A last minute presentation to the parliament of
Catalonia
results in the formal approval of a referendum concerning independence from Spain. Though the country's president urges the government to ignore the bill, parliament is expected to vote in favor of an independence vote. (ABC)

Fifteen states and the
District of Columbia
file suit challenging President Donald Trump’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, arguing, in part, that federal government has reneged on the promise to protect young immigrants who came forward and registered with the government. (Reuters)(Los Angeles Times)

Amid tensions from
South Korea, U.S. President
Donald Trump
announces that he is "allowing Japan and South Korea to buy a substantially increased amount of highly sophisticated military equipment from the United States." (The Independent)

The Trump Administration
announces that, during the next six months, it will be ending the DACA program
that has halted the deportation of about 800,000 people who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Congress is called upon to pass legislation to correct the situation. (The New York Times)

Hurricane Harvey is projected to possibly become the second costliest
hurricane
in the United States's history, with estimates ranging from
US$72 billion to over $125 billion. In comparison,
Hurricane Katrina's total damage is estimated to be around $118 to $160 billion.
(ABC News)

The independent seismic monitoring agency
NORSAR
estimates that the blast had a yield
of around 120 kilotons, approximately three times more than the combined explosive yield of the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
during World War II. (NOSAR)